


Crimson Skies II

by Grub2517



Category: Crimson Skies
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Dogfighting, F/M, International Fanworks Day 2021, Pandora (Zeppelin), Sequel, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:42:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29152977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Grub2517/pseuds/Grub2517
Summary: My first work on Ao3. A fan made sequel to the cult classic Xbox game 'Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge', picks up right where HRtR left off.
Relationships: Nathan Zachary/Betty





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Well, here I am finally posting something of my own to Ao3. I've always loved the Crimson Skies universe and wish there was more of it. I have have had this sitting in my drive for a while but never really finished it, now with fanworks day coming up and focusing on unexplored fandoms figured now was the time to throw some of my writing to the wind. Let me know what you think.
> 
> FYI, this does make some references to the original PC Crimson Skies, but it's nothing major and you don't need to have played it, this is a direct sequel to the Xbox game however and you need to at least know the plot of that game to know what's happening.

3 days after the Windy City event

Yes, there were celebrations, a long party, guns, women, gambling and lots of money... all that defined the back slapping, hard drinking and high living style of air pirates. But even the festivities and the natural high of the victory could only hold off reality for so long. Now, three days after Von Essens defeat, Nathan Zachary sat on the lower platform of the Pandora, staring at the rotisserie rack of planes his team had ‘acquired’. For hours he sat, legs dangling off the platform and just sitting rigidly, staring forward, moved only by the constant vibrations of the zep’s 10 powerful engines, lulled somewhat by the rhythmic noise of the crew and their ongoing work. The Fortune hunters and Skulls had parted ways nearly a day ago, both had their own rebuilding to do and with a three day journey back to Sea Haven the events of the last few weeks finally had a chance to sink in. 

“Nathan?” Betty’s voice was the only thing that broke the man from his trance, but barely. Still mostly unmoving Betty came closer, she had food and a canteen of water… and a worried expression.  
“Yes?”  
“Startin to get worried about you, boss. Are you---”  
“I’m fine.”  
Nathan finally turned his head as Betty slid in beside him. Finally he spoke, far from his flamboyant self he seemed stiff, distant and almost depressed...  
“Nathan… It’s been a rough few weeks. It’s alright to---”  
“I screwed up. What can I say?”  
“It wasn’t just--”  
“And look what happened! In the past few weeks what’s happened, Doc died, you were captured, twice, Khan almost killed you, Maria betrayed us, Chicago was almost destroyed-”  
“Almost, Nathan. Common theme here.”  
“Still doesn't change what happened.”  
“And what exactly did happen? We got shot at, we almost died, we made allies, we made enemies… Just another day in the life, right? We’re sky pirates, it comes with the job.”  
She knew this was far greater, and he did too, but the implication was what mattered  
“Boss, you did everything you would do. There’s no reason to change who you are. No, I don’t agree with everything you did but it’s not the first time, and that’s not the point anyway. No matter what we think we still trust you as the boss and we will follow you.”   
Nathan tensed again slightly, and betty realized she really should not have phrased it that way. She looked away for a moment, then quickly spoke to correct,  
“Bottom line we’re all here, we’re all alive, Von Essen is dead and we’ll never have to worry about him ever again.”  
Nathan sighed… and betty did another double take. His demeanor was nearly shocking to her, going from an arrogant, self righteous air pirate to… whatever the hell this was. She really hoped that getting back to Sea Haven would at least start to make things better, cause she didn’t like where this was going.


	2. Trouble at Sea Haven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 of my Crimson Skies Sequel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, this is not a complete work, I am posting this as I write. I am just testing the waters here, and I will post as fast as college (and my sanity) allows.
> 
> I should say, this was originally written to be a follow up to the game as I said, this includes the format. These chapters are meant to represent each 'level' of a hypothetical game and the in-between level map scenes from the game as well. If formatting seems a bit odd that's why.

After all their trials and tribulations the catalina coast and attached string of islands was a welcome comfort. Finally sighting the unmistakable volcano within a volcano sprinkled in zep hulls their spirits rose. This was like a homecoming to them, a return to normalcy. It was still a weird thought after all they’d been through, being right on the front lines it seemed like Von Essens evil empire was everywhere, but to anyone living outside of his path of chaos nothing much seemed to have happened at all. Even their new allies of the Navajo Nation had thought the battle of the titanium mine was a one off, it was unsettling and reassuring at the same time.  
Still, all thoughts of those events evaporated as the familiar yellow zeppelin slowed and hovered over the island.

  
“See Nathan, take notes here. Specifically the point that Big Jhon does not take out any random radio towers while parking.”  
Even from 20’ away Big John somehow heard them over the steady roar of the engines and piped up.  
“You what?!”  
“Oh C’mon, I was just clearing the air that’s all, I wasn't a huge fan of that station anyway.”  
“Heh heh heh.”  
“Nathan... is there something I should know? Is that why the Pandora was missing an entire freakin engine when I got back??”  
“Uhhh…. No comment.”  
“Suuuuure.”

  
The two devastators flew in loose formation to the center of the island. At first they thought it was a fluke but it took just a few minutes of flying around to realize something was very wrong at Sea Haven. No matter how hard they looked, they could not deny one indisputable fact…

  
“Boss… I hate to state the obvious, but... where is everybody?”  
Normally Sea Haven, though far from “congested” had its fair share of traffic, from small planes and pirate factions, to small merchant zeps and ships prowing their trade… but right now, the island seemed dead. There were definitely people there, lights on and smokestacks fuming, but there was not a single plane in the air and not a single ship out of their dock.  
“Something isn’t right here…”

  
They flew around for a few more minutes, contemplating what might be happening, they saw a few people out on platforms or scurrying across bridges, but it looked like no one was willing to be in the air or on the water. There were no obvious enemies nearby, the weather was clear and they couldn't see anyone all the way to the horizon.

  
“Stick close to me Betty, I don’t like this…”

“Could the militia have taken over?”  
“I don’t think so. If they had, we woulda been jumped by about thirty crazy men in Fireflies ranting about how they were gonna pound us into the ground.”  
“Trap then?”  
“We flew straight through the center of the island when we first got here, if they wanted a trap they wounda sprung it then not waited for us to be out in the open”  
“Well boss maybe you should just go down there and talk to the locals”  
“Yeah I’m gonna go down there ‘n see what the hell’s goin on. Stick close to the Pandora and if anything happens, call me”  
“Got it boss”

  
Nathan flew down to one of Sea Havens usual hangout spots, landing on the short airstrip and he again noted how few people there were in front of the restaurant. Once inside he was again struck by the quietness, there were many people there but they were all laying low, only quiet whispers between each other as uneasy murmurs drifted through the room. He had seen the occasional zep captain shiver at his presence but an entire island, especially a pirate hangout like Sea Haven should not be acting like this. Shifting his shoulders he slowly walked through the light haze and tendrils of smoke toward the bar, noting people's demeanor as he passed, they weren't afraid of him but were clearly afraid of something. As he walked up to the bar, the barkeep turned, instantly recognizing Nathan he walked over… speaking quietly as if someone was listening.  
“Nathan… you came back?”  
“What’s going around here, Russ? Everyone is… scared?”  
“Have you not heard what’s been going on? About the attacks?”  
“Been kinda busy… we’ve been mostly around the Industrial States. We just got back and not---”  
“So- you just flew straight in?!” suddenly his voice shifted, now immediately fearful  
“Uh… yeah? What---”  
“So Pandora’s still out in the open?!”  
“Parked out on the east side where we always do. is---”  
“Look you need to go right now! Go out there, get on the horn and tell Big Jhon to dive into the lower canyons where there's cover!”  
“Wha-”  
“GO! Now! Every second you’re out in the open like that the riskier it gets for ya!”  
Nathan left at a run, not even looking back at the glass he knocked down off the bartop.  
As he sprinted down the runway a drinking buddy he recognized yelled to him with a similar amount of fervor  
“Nathan! Move your zep now, you’re gonna get blown out of the sky sittin there!”  
“Yeah already on it!!”  
Sprinting back out to his plane he leapt onto the lower gunbarrel in a single bound and swung inboard to the cockpit. Flipping on the battery and radio switches his headset wasn’t even on yet as he shouted  
“Big Jhon, you there?!”  
“Nathan? what’s---”  
“We got serious trouble, full speed down toward the canyons now! Betty, make sure he gets there!”  
With the Pandora on the move Nathan spun up his engine and began to take off as the conversation continued.  
“What happened down there? What did you find out?”  
“I don’t know but everyone is frightened, says something will come and attack you if you stay there. Dive down into the canyons and stay there until I figure out what the hell is happening on this island”  
“Already movin’ Nathan!”  
While the desperation left him, the tension hardly did. He looked up to see the Pandora taking a hard right turn and descending rapidly. He still didn’t know what was going on but he let out a pent up breath. He’d gotten up into the air so quickly that he dudn’t even stop to notice that the sky was still empty. Noticing his buddy standing on the runway waving him down he reluctantly went back to land, coming to a stop just outside the bar.  
“Altim what’s happening?”  
The radio crackled momentarily as Big Jhon started to dip below the sea stacks  
“Pandora’s movin in… That’s a mighty tight squeeze in there watch your elbows people”  
“Uhh… let’s head inside Nathan. We’ll discuss… it”  
Seeing the Pandora swallowed up by the rocks Nathan turned back toward the restaurant, tension still thick in the air… they had come expecting a bit of a break and now they looked to be on the start of some new mystery. They walked back into the bar where things had returned to quiet, sitting down next to each other at the bar, the three friends started discussing

  
“Russ, the Pandora’s in cover... would you mind telling me what in the world is going on here?”  
“Things have changed around here sense the attacks started. I hope you forgive my harsh reception but circumstances demand it.”  
“The attacks?”  
The men tensed… clearly this was a touchy subject, but Russ did continue on  
“They come in at random, under cover of night usually…”  
“Who are we talking about, militia?”  
“Oh hell no. This is different”  
“Wait, the Die Spinne? Von Essen’s dead we stopped—“  
Russ cut him off again, raising his voice in a no room for argument way”  
“We’ve fought Militia before, we fought Cajuns, we fought Jeralds cult, fuckin Die Spinne, none of them compare to this.”  
A man sitting next to nathan interjected  
“We don’t even know who it is. No one has gotten a good look at them. They dive in outta nowhere, that sound… my god that sound… like no airplane I’ve ever heard… everyone runs for cover they come screaming in, unleash hell on earth and before anyone can even turn around to look at them they are gone.”  
“Gone?”  
“They’ve gotta be goin 500… they dive in from the sky, level everything in their path and then just… vanish. Probably just goin too fast for anyone to see”  
Nathan looked back to Russ… he didn’t usually bat an eye to a body count with his line of work, but this was different.  
“... Anybody??”  
Russ visibly deflated a bit… awnsering with a strange mix of fear and somberness.  
“The attacks have been getting more and more intense, We’ve lost 38 people in the last 6 days. People are scared to even come here anymore. I’m surprised you didn’t stop on your way in.”  
“Do you know what type of plane? Colors, markings, anything?”  
“Woulda told you already…”  
“And, are there any patterns? Any distinct footprints any---”  
“Nathan we’re all scared for our lives out here… if we knew something we’d tell you.”  
Nathan sighed... so he was chasing a ghost then? He would be lying to say that he wasn’t at least slightly skeptical of the stories, but he’d known these peoplr, Russ especially, for a long time, besides it would take quite a lot to grind the entire Sea Haven to a halt. He silently vowed to investigate further..  
“Nathan… if it helps, last attack there was one of those Cajun heavy zeps here. T’was destroyed in about ten seconds, but the wreck landed on the south side beach, maybe you can find something in the wreck.”  
“Thanks…”  
Nathan went back outside, took a quick moment to reflect on what he was told, and took off heading back to the Pandora.

"Betty, Big Jhon?"  
“You alright, boss?”  
“It’s fine… apparently there have been attacks, high speed divebombing attacks powerful enough to blow apart a zep in seconds... I’ll be poking around but for now we don’t have much of anything.”  
“Is that why this place is so quiet?”  
“Believe me this isn’t minor… Everyone here is scared. We have to do something.”  
As Nathan flew out of the hollow mountain Betty formed up on Nathan’s wing.  
‘What can we do, boss?”  
“Just like Doc’s death, find a lead and follow it.”  
“And very possibly get roped into another blind onion of clues that takes us halfway across the planet?”  
“Hey if you have a better idea then I’m for it, but at the very least we have to find out what’s happening to protect Sea Haven. Agreed?”  
“Agreed.”  
“Got it, boss.”  
“Big Jhon, stay in the canyon for now but keep the engines warm in case we need to make a run for it. Betty, on me. First stop, a downed Cajun zep on the far side of the island”  
“So we’re off chasing mystery gangs again?”  
“Hey that business with the Medusas doesn't count…”  
“So, given that I assume we already ruled out Cajuns and Militias?”  
“It’s none of the local folks, trust me. Aside from the fact that they’re both in disorganized tatters the attacks are just not their style.”  
“I see…”  
By now the two had flown around the north side to the ship graveyard. The two devastators lowered to wavetop level and started scouting for the mystery zep  
“Could it be in the straight?”  
“Maybe, how would it get all the way---”  
“No, it’s there!”  
Nathan’s eyes snapped to the beach, in a sheltered crook between the two cliff faces lay the barely recognizable remains of a cajun zeppelin. The hull was weathered by the wind and waves, but couldn't be more than 48 hours old, the entire outer envelope was gone, along with just about every other recognizable component, the blackened frame hideously twisted around the rocks where it now lay.  
“Well… that’s it. I guess.”  
“Nathan that’ll be really tricky to get down to… we need---”  
“Forget it. It doesn’t matter we won’t get any clues from that.”  
“So where do we start from?”  
“Gimme a minute…”  
As Nathan thought on the issue, the pair continued their lazy circle around the wreck. As the waves pounded against the wreck below, charred wires and bits of cloth flapping in the stiff breeze, the shattered wreck brought up a disturbing thought for Betty  
“Nathan… were these guys hiding in this alcove to protect themselves from these planes?”  
“I donno, they didn’t tell me really…”  
“Well if they were it didn’t do very well and that worries me… if they couldnt find protection in here the Pandora surely isn’t any more protected”  
The thought sent a chill through Nathan’s spine… looking down, betty was right. The Cajun zeps werent quite the size and durability of the Pandora but not far off, if one was protected by this series of cliffs, and somehow destroyed in about 10 seconds…  
“Nathan?”  
“Look we can’t do anything better than we already have”  
“So are we sure we should even stay here?”  
“We can’t just run away Betty… for now we stay, until we are forced out”  
“Ok then. And Nathan?”  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m glad you’re getting back to your authoritative self”  
“Umm… thanks I guess. We can’t see anything more on that thing let’s move on”

  
The two wingmen continued circling the island but there was not much more to see. Nathan asked around at all the hot spots and many of his private connections, but he again didn’t get anything he didn’t already know. After several hours, with the sun setting the crew finally turned in for the night.


	3. Chapter II prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue scene to level 2.

Chicago, Industrial States of America. 11:47 PM. 

Khan slowly walked through the Red Skulls temporary headquarters. Though still a far cry from his luxurious throne room of days past this new command post 20 stories down was more than adequate, maybe even a little bit of luxury here and there... if you look past the gouged up wall panels, soaked carpets and windows still blocked up with plywood. Not that it mattered anyway, it didn’t matter whether he liked it or not the entire top of his building is now lying in the street for christ's sake… according to Nathan it was ripped clean off by that spider… thing. Oh well, at least he was warm, walking on a solid floor down a well lit hallway, it didn’t matter the circumstances as much as what he made of them. Looking bac---

Suddenly, Khan was torn from his thoughts as the whole building shook. Before he could even run to look several windows exploded inward, shrapnel and bullets barely missing him. Looking out he saw the DeCarlos and own planes in a skirmish with some unknown enemy, and he ran to help. Theres one advantage of the new accommodations, it’s literally right next to the runway. Getting his Brigand into the air in mere seconds he jumped headlong into the furball, and was shocked by the state they were in. 

“Help us! They’re everywhere!”  
“What the hell are these things?!”  
Both the DeCarlos and his own Skull pilots were now entwined in the fervor, but even already it seemed like they were struggling. The enemies were numerous, he could barely even see them and goddamn they were fast. Many of his planes were already either spiraling to the ground in flames or in a million pieces slowly falling through the air. Before he even got his first shot off his plane lurched, a large chunk of the left wing flying clean off.

“Khan calling all Skulls! Emergency in the warehouse district, get over here now!”  
From there on was just a blur, the concept of individuality lost to the spinning maelstrom of planes, bullets and radio calls...  
“Watch your tail! Watch your tail!”  
“I can’t keep him in the sights!”  
“How many even are there?!”

A plane dove on Khan from on high, the moment he spotted it Khan jammed his stick to the left, but the crippled plane barely responded. Within a second the enemy was upon him, spewing molten death like a flamethrower… the Brigand, one of the toughest planes in the sky, crumpled like wet cardboard as the engine exploded into a screaming fireball. He didn’t even jump really, pulling the ripcord a mere formality as his cockpit disintegrated around him...

Sea Haven.  
(Nathan voiceover)  
Despite our paranoia the rest of that night passed without incident. The tension in the air was tangabe, but I, perhaps in blind ignorance, still held on to the belief that this was some kind of small local problem...

Sea Haven, 8:10 am.

Nathan and Betty dropped from Pandora's giant hangar doors, flying into the morning sky to do more scouting.   
They spent several hours conversing around the island. Despite the tense atmosphere they could still fall back to their usual MO of trading favors and helping the locals out, for a reasonable fee of course. Nathan even found out that the classic Bandit Rush Challenge was still on, of course he beat the par time, made some good money doing it and went a long way to livening spirits, at least for a time. They spent all day on the island, but didn’t find anything new and as evening approached again the crew was starting to loose their momentum  
“Nathan…”  
“Don’t say it.”  
“We’ve been here two whole days boss and we haven't found anything significant. Maybe it’s time to call this off for a while.”  
“There has to be something here. We can’t just sit here and wait for them to attack us…”  
“That’s not what I’m suggesting… who knows maybe us being here is enough to drive them off”  
“That’s not the impression I’ve got…”  
“Cmon Nathan, It’s getting late. DInner’s ready at the pandora, maybe it’s just not on this island and we can head somewhere else tomorrow”  
Nathan would be lying if he said that didn’t sound good… the logical part of his brain was saying he should still be on alert, still searching… but his human side was telling him to listen to his rumbling stomach, tired eyes and aching muscles. Looking at his near empty fuel gauge, and with his butt numbed from hours of engine vibration he finally returned to the zep. The crew had a short dinner with the promise that they would discuss where to go next in the morning.


	4. Things That go Bang in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 of Crimson Skies II.

2:36 AM.

The island of Sea Haven is dead quiet. In the town, most lights are out, everyone having turned in for the night, the darkness casting an eerie shadow across canyons and beaches. Just a few thousand yards away the Pandora sat in a dark ravine, most crew also asleep as a small skeleton crew kept a sharp eye out. Suddenly, the half-asleep forward turret gunner spotted something on the horizon. Jolting awake he grabbed his binoculars and spotted the distant target… not even distant anymore it was almost on top of them, they were moving so fast it was hard to even keep the binoculars on the formation but he did get a good look at one of them. It wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen but it sure as hell wasn’t friendly. Immediately he jumped down the ladder from the turret and sprinted through the corridors to rouse the crew.  
Nathan was catapulted into the waking world as his door was torn off its hinges. This aggressive approach nearly got the gunner killed as Nathan instinctively lunged for his gun, but he quickly regained his bearings and dropped the gun  
“What the hell are yo--?!!”  
“They’re here!! They’re attacking!!”  
All confusion and animosity forgotten that instant, Nathan raced down the corridor to the hangar deck. The rest of the crew were already up and scrambling so there was no delay at all as he lept into the cockpit of a waiting Bulldog and dropped out the bay doors to confront the new threat. Choosing such a lightly armored plane was a risk, but with the descriptions he heard this was a contest of speed, not power. Nathan raced ahead, Betty seconds behind, racing toward the orange light coming from town. His heart sank as he rounded the cliff… it was already over, the town was in shambles and the enemy fighters had already disappeared.  
“Betty! Stay behind and cover the town make sure they don’t come back on an ambush, I’m goin after them!”  
Nathan gunned his engine and climbed, he couldn't see the enemy but he could clearly see a mysterious trail in the sky. He pushed his plane to the limits, pushing out every horsepower to get the plane to climb, but these enemy planes were already so far and so fast he had no hope of catching them. After less than half a minute he was forced to give up and turned around back towards town without even seeing the supposed enemy planes.  
“Nathan are you still there?!’  
“Yeah, there's no way we can catch those things. Too high, too fast…”  
“Well you’d better get down here! The town’s in shambles and if they attack again-”  
“On it!”  
Helpless… a feeling so forgen to a strong air pirate like Nathan. Circling a thousand feet above the orange glow and smoke tendrils of the town… ehem… former town below he felt the sensation for the first time sense the death of Maria. The Pandora was already on site and many of the townspeople were on hand to free survivors from the collapsed and burning ruins, three restaurants on the seafront had been leveled, two more were currently on fire and major collateral damage extended to many boats and houses further up the cliffedge. Betty and Nathan stayed in circle patrol around the pandora waiting for a second attack, they didn’t have to wait long as nathan spotted three familiar smoke trails, still high up but diving straight at them/  
“Betty! To the north, high! High to the north!”  
“They’re targeting the Pandora!”  
Acting on instinct more than logic Nathan charged straight at the incoming enemies, staring down the barrel of a rifle. The enemies did not hesitate and opened fire immediately, Nathan tried to fire back but there was no time, his airplane was ravaged by high explosive shells and he was forced to dive to the side without getting a single shot off. With Nathan safely out of the way they could refocus their weapons on the Pandora herself, Betty tried to fire on them too but her angle was off and the planes were far too fast. The high caliber rounds tore into the Pandora’s skin, shooting flames erupted from multiple decks, only the fact that she was partly obstructed by the volcano saved her from total obliteration.  
“We’re hit! We’re hit hard!”  
Big Jhons voice was a clear indicator of the severity of the damage, but Nathan and Betty still chased the fighters, they were clearly a plane of some kind and they were emitting an incredible noise… not even a sound that would be associated with an airplane really this was a high pitched crackling scream that no one had ever heard before. The mystery fighters had dove in at such incredible speed, then used that momentum to yoyo back up, before the fortune hunters could even turn around they were thousands of feet above and out of reach. Nathan tried to follow them again but his engine was belching flames as the wounded airplane creaked… it couldn't sustain the climb and nathan had to nose over, letting them go… again.  
“Betty where are you?!”  
“I’m here Nathan! I’m alright!”  
Again Big Jhon’s radio traffic punctuated the severity of the situation  
“We got fires on C through F deck all hands respond!”  
“Big Jhon, if you can move the pandora into the straight, we have better cover there!”  
“I’ll try Nathan but with all this damage we’ll be slow as shit!”  
“Betty, protect them until they get back to cover! My cockpit’s very drafty I’ve gotta land, now!”  
“Get to the repair station, I’ll cover you!”  
The tension was thick in the air as Nathan was forced to land his burning wreck of a plane at the repair station, leaving betty alone to protect the now dangerously exposed Pandora, limping slowly back into the tiny alcove in the mountainside. The team circled, waiting for another attack, but it never came… the mystery planes had melted back into the night like a spirit, leaving no tangible evidence of their existence other than utter destruction.  
After 15 minutes the pandora was safely moored and the crew started emergency repairs, Nathan and betty continued to circle, but after a while they realized the enemy was long gone… this was a hit and run attack and there was no way they were coming back. Reluctantly, the crew returned to the Pandora and met in the map room to try and decipher what had just happened.

“Big Jhon?”  
“Pandora’s main structure seems to’ve held fine, but we have two gas cells ruptured, three engines dead and fire on every deck”  
“How vulnerable are we?”  
“The damage is severe, yes but not long term. It’s no worse than all the repairs after the Skulls attacked us.”  
“Get the repair teams on it, I want---”  
“Already done. Should be good as new by mornin’”  
“And the town?”  
“There’s nothin else we can do, they can call us if they need us but it’s mostly over now…”  
“Alright then…”  
There was a moment of tense silence, most of the crew had gathered here to discuss the night’s events. Betty was the one that broke the silence, putting to words what everyone was thinking...  
“Okay, can someone… explain… to me… what the hell… just happened?”  
“Well these are clearly the mystery attackers they’ve been talking about… they were, some new plane I… I don’t know...”  
“They were luring us out… they had to be. They targeted us specifically”  
“The Pandora took one hell of a beating---”  
“The only reason we survived was because they thought we were dead already. That’s the only explanation they would’ve blown us to hell otherwise.”  
The statement hung heavy in the air. These were the fortune Hunters, the top tier pirates used to being on top of the battle… the fact that they could have been all wiped out so easily, and hearing it in words so poignantly, was a bitter undertone to the whole conversation. 

“We had literally no warning, one minute the sky was clear, and by the time we saw them they were right on top of us”  
“So---”  
“And might I add, they came from up high, not from the canyon or anywhere we coldn’t see them they were just in and out too fast”  
“Theres no way that could be, there’s no plane in the world that can fly that fast-”  
“Well now there is. Betty and I saw it with our own eyes. If I had to guess, they had to be going at least 450. Probably 500.”  
“If you take any plane that fast the wings are gonna fly off! There’s no way any normal plane can do that.”  
Well it’s pretty obvious this isn’t a normal plane then, right? Did anyone get a good look at it?”  
“It was way too quick, I sure didn’t. This is way beyond any plane I’ve ever seen, even rockets can’t catch up.”  
“Who could it be then…?”  
“...Die Spinne?”  
“Betty, Die Spinne’s gone, Von Essen is dead there's no way---”  
“We can’t be sure. Maybe he did survive, maybe someone stepped in to that power vacuum…”  
“And maybe it’s not Die Spinne at all… maybe it’s some other new faction?”  
“And we somehow run into them right after we finish with Von Essen?”  
“It would sure go along with this spectacular run of bad luck we’ve been havin.”  
“Either way, it could be the same technology. I wouldn't put it past all that crazy Tesla power tech…”  
“But all the references on that stuff were destroyed with the Shtakershturm, how could it---”  
“Look- People, we’re poking in the dark here… we can’t just start speculating we need evidence. What information do we have now?”  
“We all know this wasn’t random… they knew we were here, attacked the town to draw the zep outta cover and then rained lead on us. They were some kinda plane we’ve never seen before.

The room was silent other than the rakes of the pencil on paper, Nathan waiting patiently as the crewmember sketched what he saw. After a few seconds he turned the paper around and pushed it to him.  
“It’s not exact… I only got a fleeting glance but it was clear-”  
“I’ll take it. Thank you.”  
Back in the map room, Nathan, Big Jhon and Betty gathered around the crude sketch, faces a mixture of shock and awe  
“What… is that?”  
“That is just about the strangest ‘airplane’ I’ve ever seen…”  
Nathan turned to the gunner that spotted the plane  
“Where is the propeller supposed to be on this?”  
“There was none, not that I could see anyway.”  
“That's not possible there has--”  
“We can’t jump to conclusions here, Nathan… remember that zep that attacked doc’s lab it didn't have any props we could see.”  
“Is it even a plane? How the hell does it fly without a tail?”  
“And… where is the propeller? Where’s the engine for that matter?”  
“I don’t know…”  
Big Jhon and Betty turned to Nathan, who was leaning against the table, staring intently at the picture.  
“Nathan?”  
Nathan, who had been quiet up to this point, looked back up, his facial expression couldn’t be described as realization but he clearly connected something to what he was seeing and hearing...  
“Back… about a year ago when I stayed the day at Doc’s place… he told me about a research program in Europe. He had just gotten back from a trip there… god I can’t even remember what it was called but he told me it was a remarkable new type of engine with no pistons, no propeller. With the speed and power of a rocket engine, and the range and durability of a piston driven one…”  
“What happened to it?”  
“I don’t know. I never heard of it again, apparently it was only in prototype at the time and I never got a chance to ask before… well...,”  
“I see…”  
“Well that’s where we should go then, right? Doc’s old lab?”  
“There may not be much left, Von Essen tore it up pretty good last time…”  
“Well right now that is the only lead we have, it may be our only shot”  
Nathan braced his head on his arms again, the others were silent and waited patiently for Nathan to think. It was clear Nathan had a plan but was reluctant to act on it…  
“Yeah… yeah we’ll go to Doc’s lab, see where that leads us. If there's no clues there we will head back to the Lost City and see if Die Spinne is somehow behind all this. Until then, we just fly by what we find”  
There was a slow unanimous head nod to express the team's confidence, Nathan’s confidence in the plan seemed to pick up a bit with that and his decision was solidified

“Big Jhon… redirect repair efforts to get the pandora moving again, I want to leave by morning it’s too dangerous to stay here. Betty, go back down there and let the locals know we’re leaving”  
“Alright then”  
“We did leave a note saying we’re leaving, right?”  
The comment was meant to be humorous, but Nathan quickly brought everyone back to reality  
“There’s hardly anyone left to send a note to. Now let’s move while we still can.”  
The bitter taste hung in the air… not from Nathan himself but more the situation we were in. The crew slowly got back to their work and within an hour the ship was moving, albeit slowly, away from the island.


	5. Cold Trails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 of Crimson Skies II

The next morning, with power restored, at least mostly, the Pandora set off in silence. The trip was’nt very far but tension was high, all guns were manned and cyclic air patrols were sent out to ensure that no one was following them. Around midday they arrived at the small islands, appearing still quiet and abandoned after the last battle. The wreck of the first tesla zep was still strewn along the far beach, while it’s legged spider tank of a nose was scattered in fragments near the old lab. It was somewhat of a sad sight to Nathan… not only because of all the crashed planes and zep parts scattered around the area, but the fact that by the looks of things no one but nature had touched the lab since they left. It was another indirect yet poignant reminder to Nathan that Doc was gone. Without Doc living here there was no one left that cared enough to clean it up. 

As the duo circled in to land all seamed peaceful… but as was usual with the fortune hunters the peace did not last…

“Nathan! Nathan below, by the docks!”  
“Ambush! Oh, wait… oh it’s just the-“  
In an instant Nathan’s knee jerk reaction to fear the worst was replaced with an ‘oh brother’... reaction as a familiar yet aggravating voice filled the air.  
“Nathan Zachary. This Is the Hollywood Militia. Under the provisions of the David Dunbar anti-piracy act you are wanted on forty two counts of aggravated aircraft piracy, thirty counts destruction of Militia official property, fou—-“  
“To get to the point… I really pissed you guys off”  
“We are here to arrest you and all your affiliates. Surrender immediately-”

His awnser came before he even finished the sentence, in the form of bullets raining down from betty’s plane.

“Do these guys ever learn their lesson?”  
Nathan quickly followed Betty’s lead and attacked. In true Militia style they were using the same slow, weak and underpowered planes they always had and the Fortune Hunter duo managed to down three of them within the first fifteen seconds. The wing commander broke in, again in that typical Militia formal, emotionless monotone voice that really pissed Nathan off sometimes.  
“Under orders from the president we are authorized to seize you by force. Zachary, stand down immediately.”  
“And how is that any different from all the other times you used force? We already kicked your ass what, eighteen times?”  
“Nineteen, actually”  
“Well sorry we lost count-“  
“Nathan it’s Big John! We have a Militia zep entering the strait, moving to engage!”  
“Get on it Big Jhon, I’m a little buisy here!”   
“We have it in hand. I can handle a single zep.”  
With the bloated blue zep came a new wave of fighters but of course these were properly dealt with. The malitia’s flying triangles were still about as strong as wet paper, and even the zep was more a minor bullet spongey inconvenience… no one ever accused the militia of being tactical geniuses. Within minutes the remaining forces were either destroyed or retreating, with the area clear Betty and Nathan finally landed at Doc’s remote strip.  
“Nathan are you sure you are going to be alright? With… this?”  
“The last time I saw Doc...it was more desperation than sadness… desperation to find whoever killed him. But, now I’ve had a chance to recollect. I’ll be fine”  
Nathan didn’t give Betty a chance to respond as he turned his back and walked straight to the door. The door was already open a crack, but it was obvious this was not a person... there were no traces of people being anywhere near here and nature was already beginning to take hold, reaching with tendrils of wind and rain through the drafty panels and windows of the old hanger. Despite the appearance Nathan proceeded in slowly, hand on holster just in case, and only after they had thoroughly swept the building did he proceed with his mission. 

“Alright I think that’s it… we’re clear”  
As this was Betty’s first time seeing inside since the attack she had the expected reaction.  
“This place is a wreck…”  
As he scanned around Nathan crouch walked around the room, picking up as many papers as he could. Some were waterlogged, some torn, many covered in dirt, but he collected all of them, hoping at least one would give them a clue.  
“Not any worse than it was last time… doc never had a chance to clean up after the first break   
in…”   
As he threw down the papers on the table a realization hit him and the emotions came flooding back for a moment. This was the very table where he had talked with Doc right after the break in… the table on which he had gotten his first glimpse of the plans for the turbine… the very table where everything had begun. Pushing aside that thought for the time being he got to work, sifting through the sizable stack of papers and the increasing number of boxes betty was now bringing over. Every drawing, every plan, every document had to be scrutinized. It took many hours and the results drew a complete blank… there were many interesting things, and a few that nathan decided to take just in case but overall the search offered no new information about the mystery planes or who made them. As the last document was folded Nathan spoke what had only been feared, tangible aggravation in his voice.  
“Well that’s it then… nothing we didn’t already know.”  
Betty walked behind him and attempted to reassure, despite feeling hints of the same feelings for herself.  
“We knew this was a longshot going in Boss… this trail’s been cold for a while now.”  
Nathan rested his elbow on the table, briefly closing his eyes.  
“Don’t worry Betty we’ll find it if we turn over enough rocks.”  
“This just wasn’t the right rock…”

Pandora’s map room, a few hours later  
This was not a formal meeting but it had morphed into a discussion of strategy between Big Jhon, Betty and Nathan. 

“We have to try it though, see if theres something left there”  
“Nathan if this trail was cold what chance could we have at the Lost City, The fricken volcano erupted theres probably nothing left down there”  
“There were a lot of explosives Die Spinne set up but the actual volcano is confined to that one upper chamber. If I’m right, the deeper city and central base is still intact”  
“May I just stay that I don’t like this plan? From what you told me it got pretty hairy toward the end. If there even is anything there---”  
“Well do you have a better idea?”  
There was a short but uneasy silence as Betty and Big Jhon contemplated the options. After the brief discussion they were in agreement. They were to set off for South America the very next day.


End file.
